Well tool



Sept. 28 1926.

o. A. IczAvlNs WELL TOOL Filed Jan. 17, 192s 3 Sheets-Shed?I l V/vv l.

INVENTOR UMH/9 OHV/N' ATTORNEY Sept. 28 1926. I

O. A. CAVINS WELL TOOL Filed Jan. :17 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORUMH/f.- CHW/75 f 4 l .Img ISAHHHHHHHMHM ATTORNEY Sept. 28 1926.

O. A. CAVINS WELL TOOL l v Filed Jan. 1'7, 1923 5 Sheets-Shea?l INVENTOROMHE J7- OHV/N5 ATTORN EY Patented Sept. 28, 1926.

OMAR A. CAVINS, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

PATENT-OFFICE WELL TOOL.

Application led January 17, 1923. Serial No. 613,126.

My invention is an improved well tool. I

' i In drilling deep wellssuch as oil wells,

l'there are several types falling in general 'under the two heads ofordinary gravity filling and pump bailers. The sand in the bottom oflthe hole becomes very compact and dicult to remove, the resent methodbeing to agitate theV materia before its removal. My bailery derivesits. advantages over other types from the high pressure at which itoperates when used under great heads of liquid in deep'bore holes. l

This high pressure enables it to ctake up, without immediate previousagitation, compacted sand and similanmaterial which ordinary gravityfilling bailers and those of the so-called pump type do not successfullyhandle.

In the drawing in which my invention is illustrated, I have shown thepreferred form thereof but it may be embodied in other forms, and in thespecification and appended v claims l wish to cover my invention 1nwhatever form it may be embodied.

Referring to the drawing: y l Figure 1 is a sectional view of my Welltool. l,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional Vview of the upper end of my welltool.` Figure 3 is al plan view of the spider head clamp and rod guide.f

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the central section of mywell tool.

vFigure 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the'control valve in openposition.

Figure 6 is a viewof the same in closed positron. f l l Y Figure 7 is asectional view of the equalization valve.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view A of the V lower section of mywell tool.

i The Y as i Figure' 9 vis a sectional view of a modified form of lowersection. v

.. .Figure 10 is a sectional View cfa further modiiied form of lowersection.'

D eferring more particularly to the drawing: l x l y bailenconsists ofthe shell or tube 1 ^and its several parts; the bail spider' 2 and itsseyeral parts; the 'vacuumQpressure tanlt 4; the intake valve `5 and thero'dis .in its lower position.

3 with its several parts; the discharge valve valve 6. l

The shell or tube 1 consists of three tubes the `equalization 7, 8 and 9of equal'diameter andv thickness v of material. tube by the seatingcollarI 10 joining the tubes7 and 8 and bythe discharge valve 4 whichjoins the tubes 8 and 9.

These arejoined toform one The spider 2 consists of a head 11,:arms 12and a' lifting stem 13. The head lland'v arms 12 are made in one pieceandthe latter joined to the shell or tube 1 by rivets, welding or othersuitable method. I

vThe lifting stem 13 has an eyell formed thereon to receive the c ableby which the bailer is supported and a shoulder 15 with convex uppersurface, to tit inthe concave under surfaceof the head 11. The liftingstem 13 isthreaded at its lower uend so that it can be coupled with thevalve rod 16 by `means of the'coupling 17. The head 11 is" slottedlongitudinally asfat 18 and between two of the arms 12. The lifting stemis inserted into the head through' thisslot which is then closed by thesplit ring 19.

The vacuum-pressure tank 3 consists of the outer shell 20 and a centraltube 21 extending vertically therethrough. lThe valve rod 16 is adaptedto reciprocate within the Y tube 21. A seating ring 22 is formedon theupper end of the shell 2O b means of which ,the vacuum-pressure tankangs 'in the shell 1 of' the bailer. When the upper tube 7 of the shell1 is tightly screwed into the seating collar 10 the lowerend of` thetube seats on the flange 22 making a.l tight joint so that neitherliquidnor gas'can pass. The central v f tube 21 is. welded or otherwiseIfirmly joined at its lower and upper ends to the `vacuumpressuretankshell 20. An/elongated guide 23 `properly formed and finished on theport 25. On the shoulder 26 of the-tube 21 rests the shoulder 27 of thelvalve rod when The hole 28 in the lower end of e tube 21provides a meansolf-flushing out the vacuum-pressure tank. With the safetyyalv'e 29removed and the valve rod entirely lremoved from lower end of thetube 21serves ask a guide to horizontalv l the center tube 21 thevacuum-pressure tank j in Fig. 5) there is a passageway thro-ugh whichgas or liquid may pass from the shell into the tank 3. When the valverod is in its upper position this passage is closed (as shown in Fig.6). A. plug 32 has asmall longitudinal hole formed therein and screwsinto the lower extremity of the valve rod 16.

By using plugs with dierent sized holes, dierent sized passages can beprovided into the tank 3 but one of small bore is preferred so that theequalization of pressuresl -will take place slowly.

The safety valve 29 seating safety valve which can be adjusted so as tokeep the excess of internalfpressure over the external pressure in the'vacuumpressure tank 3 at any desiredamount.

The discharge valve 4 consists of the internal coupling or nipple 40 andthe external ring 41. The inside surface of the ring 41 and the outsidesurface of the coupling or nipple 40 are machined so that the ring willslide on the couplino' or nipple and make a tight joint therewit Thering 41 has a plurality of holes 42 formed therein and the coupling 40has holes 43 formed therein. By turning the ring 41 the holes 42'can bemade to coincide with the holes 43 of the coupling 40 and thus formpassages from the interior to the exterior of the shell or tube 1 of thebailer, or they can be placed over blank spaces on the coupling 4U andthus close vthese passages.

The intake valve 5 is the common bailer bottom now in common use onordinaryr bailers.

The equalization valve 6 is situated. at aoutside,.but`when the pressureon the out` side exceeds that on the inside of the bailer the valveprevents the equalization of these pressures.

The operation ofmy invention is as follows:

With the bailer assembled as described is an ordinary spring and withthe safetyvalve 29 set as desired,

say for 100 pounds per square inch pressure, y

the discharge valve 4 closed and the plug 46 vremoved from theequalization valve ftlie port 31 in the bottom thereof. The bailer islowered to the bottom of thev hole through.

the liquid. When bottom is reached and the weight of the bailer restsupon the materiall in the bottom of the hole, the lifting rod 13 and thevalve rod 16 drop until the shoulder 27 rests upon the shoulder 26. Thisdropping of the valve rod 16 opens the port 31 inthe bottom of the rod16 and produces in effect a vacuum in the bailer, for just before thebailer comes to rest on the bottom, the pressure inside the tank 3 isequal to atmospheric pressure, while that inside of the shell andoutside thel bailer is that ot" the bottom of the well, the amountdepending upon the column of liquid in the hole and the kind of liquid.Therefore. when the port 31 in the lower part of the rod 16 is opened,the sand, mud and other loose material upon whichthe bailer rests, movesup into the bailer due to the greater pressure on the outside of thebailer. The rate of flow ofr the material into the bailer depends mainlyupon the size of the. hole in the plug 32.

When the pressure within and without the vacuum-pressure tank isequalized the How of material into the bailer ceases. Then if the baileris lifted the port 31 in the bottom of the rod 16 and valve 5 close. Thebailer is then lifted to the surface with its load, which is held in thebailer by the'valve 5. As it is lifted the pressure in thevacuumpressure' tank escapes through the safety valve 29 until, at thesurface of the ground, only the-pressure for which the valve is setremains; in this assumed case pounds per square inch. 1

The pressure within the body of the bailer which would otherwise be thatof the bottom of the well, if the sand and like material in the bailerprevented its escape downward, is.

reduced to atmosphericl pressure, when the bailer has'reachedthesurface, by the escape ofthe pressureoutward through the equalizationvalve 6. )Vhen the bailer appears at the surface on being raised fromthe bottom of the bore hole the plug 46 is insertedand the ring 41 ofthe discharge valve 4 turned until the holes in it coincide withthose ofthe coupling 40. The bailer is then set down in the discharge trough ofthe drilling rig.

This takes the weight'from the` lifting stem 13 which .permits thelvalve rod/16 to drop,v

opening the port 31 in the bottom of the vacuum-pressure tank andcausing the pressure in the tank to force the material inside of thebailer out through the holes of the discharve valve 4. When thefbailerhas emptied itself the discharge valve 4 can be closed again, the plug46. removed, the bailer lowered into the hole and the operationrepeated.

The type of bottom 'shown in Figure 9 can be used instead of the lastjoint of the shell or tube 1 and the 4ordinary bottom 5 when it isdesired to clean out around lost tools preparatory to fishing for them.This consists of an elongated curved nose 50. With the special shoe 55as shown in Figure 10 it can be used as a fishin tool to remove smallob'ects such as un er-rea-mer lugs from the ole.

lVhen this special basket shoe is used it is substituted for the intakevalvey 5 andis .attached to the lbailer by anv ordinary nipple which issubstituted for the discharge valve 4. With this basket shoe in placethe apparatus is lowered into the borehole. When the apparatus strikesbottom the bailer is pushed downward by on the bailer 'which exceedsthatwithin the bailer,after the vacuum-pressure tank valve has opened. Thiscauses the sand and other loose material, together with under-reamerlugs and other small objects, to enter the bailer tube pushing aside theflexible prongs Arounding-said tank anA 56. When the bailer is liftedout of the hole the under-reamer lugs, and so forth, are retained withinthe bailer tube by the flexible prongs 56, or if they were unable toenter the tube of the bailer they may be held on the barbs of theiexible prongs 57. Having described my invention, I claim: 1. A welltool adapted to be inserted in a well bore, comprisin a tank, a shellsurextending below the same, said shell having 'an intake valve in thelower end thereof, means whereby the interior of said tank is placed inopen oommunication with the shell when at the bottom of the well bore,said means bein adapted to be closed asthe tool'is raise from the bottomof the well bore, said means being operable at the top of the well boreso as to cause the fpressure in the tank to eject the contents o theshell.

2. A well tool adapted to be inserted in a well bore, comprising ashell, a valve at the bottom of said shell, through which ma.- teriaimay enter said shell, a tank'positioned in said shell 'and having avalve therein adapted to be opened after the tool has come to rest atthe bottom of the well bore, the lower pressures in the tank as comparedwith that in the shell serving as a means to suck material through thevalve iin the bottom of said shell, automatic means to close the valveand the tank when the tool is the external pressure communicating withtank, means for controlling said rod to open raisedfrom the well bore,said valve in said tank being adapted to be opened at the top of thewell bore so that the pressure in said tank will eject the material fromsaid shell. l

3. A well tool adapted to be inserted in a well bore comprising a shell,a valve at the bottom of said shell, through which material may entersaid shell, means positioned in said shell adapted to alternately exerta suction effect on said material, and a pressure thereon to eject thesame, a valve in said means through which Afluid is adapted to assslowly, and, means forv controlling sai valve from the surface of theground.

4. A well tool adapted to bevinserted in a well bore comprising a shell,a valve at the bottom of said shell through which material may entersaid shell, means positioned in said shell adapted to alternately exerta suction etect on said material and a pressure thereon to eject thesame, a valve in said means through which fluid is adapted to passslowly, means for controlling said valve from the surface of the ground,an equalizing valve in the shell below. said means, and a relief valveat the top of said means.

5. A well tool adapted to beinserted in a well bore comprising a shell,a valve at the bottom of said shell through which material enters saidshell, a pressure tank ,positioned in said shell adapted to exert apressure on said material to dischargethe same, a valve in 'said tankthrough which uid under pressure is adapted to pass, means forcontrolling said valve from above said shell, said shells having aplurality of holes above the valve through which the contents may bedischarged.

6. A well tool'adapted to be inserted in a well bore com rising a shell,a valve at the bottom of sai shell through which material enters saidshell, a pressure tank positioned in said shell, a tube extendingthrough said tank, a rod adapted to reciprocate V1n said tube,` said rodhaving a longitudinal bore therein communicating with the interior ofsaid tank, and means for controlling said rod to o en or close thecommunication with said tan 7. A well tool adapted to be inserted in awell bore comprising a shell, a valve at the bottom of said shellthrough which material enters said shell, a tank positioned in saidshell, a tube extending through said tank, a

rod adapted to reciprocate in said tube,-

said rod aving a. longitudinal bore therein the interior of said orclose the communication with said tank, a lift rod slidably mounted insaid shell, saidrst named rod being coupled to said lift rod whereby hefirst named rod is actuated.

In testimony whereof I alix mv si ature.

OMAR A. A INS.

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